Brazil Supreme Federal Court justice fines X $1.4M for non-compliance with court orders News
Marcelo Camargo, CC BY 3.0 BR, via Wikimedia Commons
Brazil Supreme Federal Court justice fines X $1.4M for non-compliance with court orders

Brazil Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Wednesday ordered X Brasil Internet Ltda. (the Brazil branch of what was formerly Twitter) to pay a fine of R$8.1 million (approximately $1.4 million) due to a lack of compliance with multiple court orders. The penalty arose from the platform’s refusal to provide registration details of the account @allanconta, which reportedly spread fraudulent news. 

The investigation began with a criminal complaint signed by journalist Juliana Schwartz Dal Piva against Allan Lopes dos Santos, a far-right blogger, under Articles 38 and 39 of Brazil’s Code for Criminal Procedure. The complaint was filed alleging that Santos’ digital activities were aimed at obstructing ongoing investigations by Brazil’s federal police and the Supreme Court (STF). The ruling instructed X to block the account and provide its registration details. Following the order, the platform blocked the account but could not provide the details citing technical limitations, claiming that operators do not collect such data and that the user @allanconta had no technical connection point with Brazil.

The STF imposed daily fines for non-compliance and ordered X to deposit the full penalty into a designated account immediately. The top court has also ordered the case to be forwarded to the Federal Police for further investigation.

The court had previously ordered X to pay fines and subsequently lifted a ban on the company upon payment.  Justice Moraes was recently sued by US President Donald Trump’s social media company for violating a US-based far-right commentator’s right to free speech by issuing orders to suspend social media accounts spreading disinformation.

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